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A More Perfect Union
"A More Perfect Union" is the 20th episode of Falling Skies and the 10th and final episode of the second season. It was written by show runner Remi Aubuchon and Co-Executive Producers Bradley Thompson & David Weddle and directed by Executive Producer Greg Beeman. It premiered on August 19th, 2012 and drew 3.84 million viewers. Plot Synopsis A group of renegade skitters approaches Charleston to present a unique option to hurt the enemy by assassinating the overlord. In the end it is up to the 2nd Mass to use it, after the Charleston military betrays them. The overlord dies but Karen escapes after infecting Hal. Tom finds out Anne is pregnant with his child. The episode ends with the arrival of a mysterious new race of aliens. Plot Having overthrown Arthur Manchester and assumed control of Charleston, General Bressler tells Tom that it's now or never to meet up with the rebel Skitters. Tom declines, stating that a forceful take over is not what he wanted. Bressler dismisses Tom's concerns and is ordering the 2nd Mass arrested, when proximity alarms go off. The rebel skitters have come inside to meet the humans along with Ben. Bressler orders the skitters to be shot, but before he can give the command, Tom, along with several others from both the 2nd Mass and the citizens of Charleston stand in front of the soldiers, shielding the rebel skitters from harm. Under duress, Bressler stands down. Red-Eye (speaking through Ben) lays out new intelligence to the humans, revealing that the Overlord whom the 2nd Mass briefly had in their custody was the overall commander for military operations on the East Coast; if he dies, the invaders' military operations will be completely uncoordinated within this region. He elaborates, saying that the reason an individual has so much power is because the Overlords (or Espheni, as they are called ) possess an intellect that allows them to store and process information at an astronomical rate, eschewing computers and other devices. Red-Eye also states that this Overlord will be making an inspection of a new weapon which is nearing completion and that now is the time to act. Ben and the rebel Skitters agree to wait at a nearby location, while Bressler and the 2nd Mass confer on a course of action. The General dismisses the information, and orders Tom and Weaver detained. After a struggle, Weaver convinces him that if he will commit no units to the Rebel Skitters' cause, then the 2nd Mass will rise to the occasion. When Tom and Weaver leave the room Bressler conspires to kill the rebels and orders his troops to set up for an attack. In the hospital, Lourdes talks with Anne about their shift back to the front lines, with Anne remarking that she's missed the rush of the battlefield and wondering if they have grown too conditioned to it. Anne suddenly feels sick and vomits into a bin; Lourdes asks her if she's told Tom that she's pregnant, and Anne tells her no, she's planning to tell him after this mission. Hal, sneaking out of the complex, finds Ben at a nearby location. Hal admits to Ben he misses him and also apologizes to Ben for everything he's done or said to him, finally acknowledging that Ben has always had his back. Ben accepts his apology. Hal asks Ben to come back home, but Ben says he already is home with the Skitters. Hal, looking rather frustrated by what Ben is saying, hugs him and leaves. Tom talks with Arthur Manchester, with Tom admitting Manchester was well-intentioned and doesn't 'think with his rifle' like Bressler does, but he should have prioritized keeping up the fight over creating a Utopia at any cost. Later on Ben rushes in, superficially wounded, reporting that the Rebel Skitters have been attacked. Tom and the 2nd Mass go out to their camp and find Skitter corpses and shell casings from human weapons. Tension mounts, as Bressler unconvincingly feigns ignorance about what happened, claiming people who have suffered so much from Skitters cannot be expected to hold back. After revealing that his son was killed by a Skitter right in front of him, the General scraps the planned mission and orders everyone back inside. Undaunted, Tom and Weaver announce that they they plan to act with or without any help. Bressler tells them it's suicide but agrees to let them go anyway. Tom, Maggie, Anne, Weaver, Ben, Dai and Hal gear up and set out, along with the reconvened Berserkers, whom Tector has rejoined. The 2nd Mass volunteers sneak up a cave passageway, while the Berserkers reconnaissance elsewhere; Ben leads them directly to the superstructure, noting that the weapon- which is pointed at the sky- is not intended for use against mankind, but against something else. Shortly after infiltrating the facility and going about setting explosive charges, however, the group is ambushed by a large force of Skitters. Dai is killed in the ensuing melee, Hal and Maggie are quickly subdued and Tom surrenders his weapons when he sees Skitters holding Anne and Ben. Karen enters the room, and using her telepathy, binds the group within the wires of the weapon. Karen tells Tom that before they die, he will reveal how exactly they learned of the location. Tom refuses, claiming the rebellion has clearly shaken the Overlords' confidence. In response Karen begins her torture of the captives, while being watched by the very Overlord the group was trying to assassinate, the same one they encountered before. After torturing Tom with an electro-staff (which horrifies Ben, Hal and Anne), Karen moves over to Hal and admits to him that she's been waiting a very long time to do something. Karen forces herself on Hal and kisses him passionately, looking at Maggie and smiling maliciously to make her jealous and angry. Upon being released, Hal falls unconscious. After torturing Captain Weaver repeatedly, Karen moves on to a frightened Anne. She pauses, sensing that Anne is pregnant with Tom's child, announcing it to everyone before moving to torture her. With that, Tom yields, saying that he'll tell her what she needs to know. Suddenly, the rebel skitters storm the facility followed by the Berserkers, attacking Karen's guards. Karen's concentration is disrupted, the group are released and join the rebel skitters in the fight. Red Eye leaps directly onto his former master and attempts to kill him; however, he is overpowered and mortally wounded by some kind of slashing weapon which springs from the Overlord's arm. Grabbing Karen's electro-staff, Tom charges the Overlord and swiftly gains the upper hand, knocking his feet from under him and then bashing his skull repeatedly, killing him. Karen sneeringly tells Tom he will never win and escapes by leaping up the superstructure wall, similar to a Skitter. Red Eye holds Tom's hand and tells him through Ben to keep fighting before succumbing to his wound. After collecting Hal and Dai's body, the 2nd Mass and the rebel Skitters leave. From a nearby cliff, they detonate the explosives and destroy the weapon. The 2nd Mass return to a heroes' welcome in Charleston, even from General Bressler. Weaver laments the loss of Dai to Colonel Porter, while Anne- perplexed by Hal's comatose condition- decides they will have to wait and see if he recovers. Matt rushes to greet Ben, who says he can stick with his family for a while; Weaver and his daughter Jeanne embrace. Tom and Arthur make amends, with Arthur ruefully revealing that Bressler has restored civilian control on the condition that someone other than he rule as Majority Leader. Tom apologetically turns down his offer, reasoning that he and the 2nd Mass have to take their chances outside — where the fight is. He talks to Anne, who didn't reveal her pregnancy to him because she was uncertain if it would be kind to bring a child into such a war-torn world. Tom tells her, "If there's any future for us, for any of us- how can we not?" and they embrace. Hal regains consciousness in his room. While examining himself in the mirror, a bio-mechanical parasite — identical to the one implanted in Tom — crawls out of his eye socket and into his ear, apparently implanted by Karen when she kissed him. Hal then begins to smile in a very disturbing manner before shifting to a cold calculating face and turning the lights off. As Tom and Weaver discuss what the future holds, the compound begins to shake and rumble from a huge storm brewing outside. The group run outside to see what's happening, just in time to witness dozens of drop pods raining to the Earth. A heavily armored alien emerges from a pod, retracts its visor and smiles... Other Cast Co-Starring * Brad Kelly as Lyle * Cainan Wiebe as Marshall Uncredited * Jon Johnson as Jon * Nico Amoroso as Nico * Zack Daniels as Zack * Aaron Harrison as Jimmy Vegas * Keith Arbuthnot as Red Eye * Doug Jones as Cochise * Shannon as Heddy * Unknown as Thomas * Unknown as Beeman * Unknown as Riley * Unknown as Pock * Unknown as Gravley * Unknown as Coleman-bee * Unknown as Melvlle Deaths * Marshall * Four de-harnessed teens * Dai * Red Eye * Unknown number of Skitters * Overlord 1 Significant Events *General Cole Bressler leads a military coup against Arthur Manchester and orders the 2nd Mass to make their meeting with the Skitter Rebellion, having grown tired of waiting for Manchester to be willing to fight. Tom Mason refuses as he feels Bressler has gone too far. *Before the 2nd Mass can locked up again, around 20 Skitters enter the perimeter. Tom recognizes Red Eye amongst the Skitters and identifies them as members of the Skitter Rebellion. After Ben Mason reveals himself amongst the Rebels, several members of the 2nd Mass form a human barricade, forcing Bressler to stand down. *Speaking through Ben, Red Eye reveals that the Overlord captured by the 2nd Mass commands all of the Espheni forces on the East Coast of the North American continent. If the Overlord is killed, the Espheni forces on the East Coast will be thrown into chaos. Red Eye reveals that in three days time, the Overlord will inspect a new weapon, giving them the chance to kill him and potentially turn the tide of the war. *After dismissing the Rebels, Bressler expresses disbelief in the story. However, Captain Daniel Weaver believes it and convinces Bressler to send the 2nd Mass to kill the Overlord and destroy the weapon. Privately, Bressler orders Sergeant Clemmons to kill the Rebel Skitters as targets of opportunity. *Doctor Anne Glass is revealed to be pregnant with Tom's child, something that only she and Lourdes Delgado know. Hal meets with Ben at the Rebel camp and reconciles with him. Tom meets with Manchester who is under house arrest and attempts to convince Manchester that he and Bressler need to find a middle ground as Tom and Weaver had done. *Ben returns, injured and reveals that the Rebel Skitters were attacked, leading to the deaths of most of the Rebels, Marshall and four other de-harnessed teens. Bressler pretends that he has no idea what happened and attempts to scrub the mission, but Ben reveals that if the weapon is completed, it will be the end of everything. With Ben knowing the path to the weapon, Weaver convinces Bressler to allow the 2nd Mass to go. *Anne chooses to join the mission while Weaver refuses to let Jeanne and Tom refuses to let Matt. Weaver and Tector also resign from the 1st Continental Army, returning to their regular clothes and Tector rejoining the Berserkers. *The assault team is able to break into the weapon's structure undetected where Ben senses the Overlord to be. While planting charges, Tom and Ben note that the weapon is pointed at the sky and Ben states that it is not for humanity. *As the team plants charges, Skitters attack, killing Dai and capturing the others. *Karen Nadler, under the command of the Overlord, tortures Tom, Hal, Weaver and Maggie for answers about how the fighters found the weapon. During this time, Karen kisses Hal, leaving him unconscious and detects and reveals Anne's pregnancy. *Before Tom can be broken, the Rebel Skitters attack, freeing Tom's group. Red Eye is mortally wounded by the Overlord, but Tom kills the Overlord with a Skitter electrostaff. Before dying, Red Eye implores Tom to "keep the fight going." *Taking Dai's body and the unconscious Hal, the 2nd Mass destroys the weapon and returns to Charleston where they are given a hero's welcome, including by Bressler. *In the aftermath, Hal remains unconscious with no apparent reason that Anne can detect. After privately waking up, an Eye Worm apparently implanted by Karen during her kiss crawls into Hal's ear and he gives a dark smile. Anne and Tom discuss Anne's pregnancy and decide that despite the world they live in, they are excited about the baby. Ben also agrees to remain with his family for awhile rather than going straight back to the Rebel Skitters. *Tom meets with Manchester who reveals that Bressler has agreed to restore the civilian government. However, his condition is that Manchester step down as Majority Leader. Manchester is willing to do so and suggests that Tom take up leadership of Charleston instead. *Tom refuses leadership of Charleston, stating that the 2nd Mass has decided to leave, feeling that their place is in the fight instead. Tom and Weaver agree that they wish to continue to be a team in the fight against the Espheni. *Suddenly, the Charleston complex is shook by tremors, a storm forms and objects unlike anything anyone has seen before comes from the sky. One lands nearby and a new alien emerges and smiles at the humans. Trivia *The title of this episode is taken from the Preamble to the United States Constitution. *The Overlord's weapon is said to be about "500 miles" from Charleston on the 35th Parallel. This places its location to be around where Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama meet. *Overlords are shown to be armed with a wrist blade. Category:Season 2 Category:Season 2 Episode Category:Episodes Category:Season Finale